Kitahata

My guess is the toaster was used to warm up something by being put on its side and the objects placed on the flat side. The bread feels more likely, but since the coffee is lukewarm it's possible too...

I don't remember seeing this explained but... what's "Happa"? Why is Kazuha called that? Since I don't watch the movies, if it's something from the movie context, I don't get it :(

So, since "asaca rum" has been revealed to mean "karasuma", doesn't that mean Wakasa Rumi's obviously suspicious name becomes irrelevant? Koumei's very pointed comments about "time is money" comes across as red herring too. Anyone ever mentioned the possibility that Kuroda is both Akai Tsutomu and Rum? Someone who is originally trying to spy into the org, but ended up a turncoat and became loyal to the org instead.

Sera's been pretty obvious about knowing, and I almost expect she'd drop a bomb here. Not yet, I guess. Also, Gosho's taking a lot of research breaks lately. Are these research trips for chapters much further ahead? This chapter didn't LOOK like it needed any particular reference, but maybe I just don't know my stuff.

Yeah, that's why I was thinking... that his name might be a hint that he's an ally to the protagonists. In the wiki it says that Shuukichi's name is a reference to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the parallel has been highlighted in the manga a few times. In Japanese history, Hideyoshi's closest advisors were his half-brother Hidenaga (also known as Kouichirou) and Kuroda Kanbei. If this is a hint that the person paralleled to Hidenaga is Haneda Kouji, then it could be that superintendent Kuroda fills the spot of Kanbei. Maybe his injury was relevant to the Black Org, but he's not an enemy? Gosho has introduced characters with samurai names just for the heck of it a few times, but superintendent Kuroda's introduction is really bugging me because his name is "out of place". And he was immediately introduced as a suspect/candidate for Rum, so it feels like this is something to take note of. And speaking of "out of place", Shuukichi is the only person in the Akai family (so far anyway) whose name isn't related to Gundam.

The solution of the trick wasn't what I expected, haha. I thought it was going to be like previous cases where the vase is put on some unstable surface, then dropped down with some kind of mechanism (string attached to the door, melting ice, etc)

Hey, this may be out of the blue. But about names... Superintendent Kuroda's name is literally "Kuroda Kanbei", just with the "Kan" kanji removed. I was thinking that it's pretty rare for samurai references in the name to be blatant as heck unless it's relevant to something. Samurai-themed cases are usually one-off things, like that first time Kansuke was introduced. Or the time when Yumi was kidnapped and the case heavily referenced Hideyoshi's retainers because the case stars Shuukichi. But at the time Kansuke's name was actually relevant to the Takeda Shingen-themed case. Kuroda was introduced in the "woodpecker" case, but his name has nothing to do with the Takeda clan. The only other person with this kind of blatant samurai name is Okita, but he was "imported" into Conan from Yaiba, so I'm not sure if that really counts. I mean, it could be nothing other than Gosho just wanting a bunch of ancient strategist names in the police... but I still thought it was interesting because Shuukichi's name is kinda a reference to Hideyoshi and Kuroda Kanbei was Hideyoshi's strategist. Could be a red herring, could be absolutely nothing at all. Sometimes the samurai thing is inserted strangely into the case anyway. Like that one case with Yumi and the marriage registration. I'm not sure if people would have understood what that was all about if they weren't samurai afficionados.

I'm a long-time lurker, but I've finally decided to sign in. I've been following Conan since the first volume was released in my country. I used to watch the anime regularly too when I was a kid! I've not got time to watch anime lately, though, so I now just follow the manga.